Ford, in Appeal to Evangelists, Stresses His Religious Beliefs (Published 1976) (2024)

Some of President Ford's supporters are fond of saying that “Jimmy Carter wears his religion on his sleeve but Jerry Ford wears it in his heart.”

The partisan comparison refers to the widespread concern in the news media with Mr. Carter's public expressions of faith in Jesus Christ. It also represents an effort, to depict the Democratic contender as a man who would attempt to exploit the issue for political gain and to show Mr. Ford, by contrast, as a man of sturdy though quiet faith.

Meanwhile, the President, almost, unnoticed, has taken the initiative by seeking ways to publicize his beliefs to religious groups that could play key roles in the November election.

In so doing, the President is directly challenging Mr. Carter's support among evangelicals, those Christians, numbering at, least 40 million, who espouse Bible teachings, personal prayer and salvation by accepting Christ as Lord.

Generally speaking, the evangelicals are conservative theologically and politically.

Among the President's more significant gestures to this constituency were his recent interview with three top evangelical leaders and a similar session with 34 representatives of the National Religious Broadcasters.

The broadcasters' group includes directors of some of the most widely disseminated religious radio and television programs. After the Sept, 30 meeting with Mr. Ford, two participants endorsed the President. A third, the Rev. W. A. Criswell, pastor of the nation's largest Baptist church, First Baptist of Dallas, announced his support for Mr. Ford last week.

In his Sept. 16 meeting with evangelical leaders, Mr. Ford reinforced the impression that he was a mainstream evangelical those stated beliefs coincided closely with those of his Democratic rival.

‘Commitment to Christian Faith’

According to a transcript of the meeting, Mr. Ford expressed “commitment to the Christian faith” and declared that he had “a relationship with Jesus Christ through my church and through my daily life.” He also said flint, “prayer is very important to me” and quoted several passages from the Bible.

The three leaders Mr. Ford met with were Dr. Ben Armstrong, executive secretary of the National Religious Broadcasters; Arthur 11. Matthews, associate editor of Christianity Today, an evangelical periodical, and Nathan Bailey, president, of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Later, he told the broadcasters that he and his wife, Betty, read the Bible each night and that he continued meeting regularly with a prayer group, a custom he began while in Congress.

The Rev, Dr. Harold J. Ockenga, president of Gordon Conwall Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass., where the President's son Michael is in his final year of preparation for the ministry, came away from the Oval Office meeting describing Mr. Ford as “a Christian who is orthodox in theology and in the historic stream of Christian experience.”

Comparing the religious styles of the two candidates, Dr. Ockenga said they were “both self‐confessing Christian men.” Baptists such as Mr. Carter “talk about these things a little more,” he added, “whereas Episcopalians like Mr. Ford are more reserved.”

The presence of two evangelicals as

the major Presidential contenders has evoked delight among those who share this outlook. “Isn't it exciting that these two men have given themselves to Christ?” says Audrey Langdon, associate editor of the Religious Broadcaster periodical. “Nothing but good can come nut of this.”

Mrs. Langdon describes Mr. Ford as “a closet evangelical until now” who has developed close recent ties with the National Religious Broadcasters and the affiliated National Association of Evangelicals.

Pictures of Mr. Ford attending the February convention of the two organizations appear on the March and May covers of Religious Broadcaster.

The earlier issue shows Mr. Ford praying with the 3,000 delegates, all of whom had joined hands. “Midway through the prayer, being offered by Jess Moody, Mr. Ford gripped the hand of Ben Armstrong, the man next to him, very hard,” Mrs. Langdon recalls. “He said it felt like a shock of electricty and told Mr. Armstrong it was one of the most significant moments in his life.”

The experience highlights the intensification of Mr. Ford's religious life in recent years. Like Mr. Carter, who says that at age 42 he underwent a deepening of his Southern Baptist faith, Mr. Ford began in his late 40's to reassess his commitment.

Deeply Religious Area

Mr. Ford was reared an Episcopalian in the pietistic climate of western Michigan, an area heavily influenced by Dutch Calvinism. He has been a lifelong churchgoer.

But his l5‐year friendship with Billy Zeoli, an evangelist, marked a distinct turning point for Mr. Ford. Mr. Zeoli, head of Gospel Films and a resident of Grand Rapids, began calling regularly on then Representative Ford. The two shared enthusiasm for football (Mr. Zeoli wrote a hook on the Dallas Cowboys arid holds worship sessions for many teams) and gradually began discussing religion.

Less than a month after assuming the Presidency, Mr. Ford confessed his beliefs poignantly to Mr. Zeoli in a letter. “Because I trusted Christ to he my Saviour,” Mr. Ford wrote, “my life is his. Often as I walk into my office I realize that man's wisdom and strength are not sufficient so I try to practice the truth of the proverbs.”

The testimony bears strung resemblance to Mr. Carter's expressions of faith in the early stages of the Presidential primaries. Much of the subsequent attention paid to Mr. Carter's beliefs stemmed from an interview last winter in which Mr. Carter stated his confidence in Jesus Christ and said he prayed as many as 25 times a day.

Both men reflect a deep strain in American religious life that places more emphasis on a personal relationship with Christ than study of formal theology.

Many observers point out that both candidates, translate theology into practical morality and place great stress on conventional values.

Mr. Ford told the three evangelical leaders he met with recently that a candidate's personal religion “is a proper concern” but added that he believed it improper “to deliberately exploit religion” for political advantage. “If I am asked about my beliefs,” Mr. Ford said, “I will respond, for I am proud of the convictions I hold.”